


Coward's Consequences

by Auviic



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alchemy, Angst, Eventual Romance, Family Drama, Fantasy, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auviic/pseuds/Auviic
Summary: Atlas and Orion Khandar are experienced alchemists on the run from Rohan Caelum, the new, inexperienced king of Averyn. Their current predicament had been caused by none other than Atlas himself, whose dealing in illicit goods didn’t go unnoticed. Atlas was notorious for causing misfortune upon his nephew; whether it was unintentionally or deliberately. Unbeknownst to both, king Caelum actually had his eye on one of Atlas’ experiments, a life extending elixir.During their journey, they come across a buried secret that could change the fate of the entire kingdom. Along with their companions, Orion hopes to clear the bounties on their heads and keep his uncle out of trouble while they search for a way to bring the truth to light.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 1





	1. I

Distant rumbling woke me from my slumber, just when I finally became accustomed to the silence. The sound of heavy steps echoed throughout the building, alarming me that a familiar nuisance was about to come my way.

With quite some difficulty, I dragged my body out of bed and started packing my possessions, preparing myself for the event that was about to unfold. As predicted, the wooden door swung open and crashed all too gracefully against the wall, leaving a giant dent in its wake. Said nuisance hurriedly stumbled inside, nearly tripping over his own feet as he rummaged through the cabinets across the room, ignoring my presence.

Clothing was graciously thrown on the ground, followed by empty bottles, torn notebooks, stench-ridden socks and eventually the goods he’d been searching for. He gathered the heap of impractical objects and grabbed the nearest bag he could find. After he made sure that the bag was filled to the brim, he arose from his position and scurried over to the nearest window. He clumsily opened the obstacle and speedily leapt over the windowsill, disappearing without a trace.

It was to no surprise that shortly after he left, a loud knocking was heard from the front door. A loud groan and euphoric body stretch later, I decided to face the nuisances and hoped for the best. I put my bag on my bed and made my way down the wonky stairs to the front door.

Once I opened it, my face was instantly welcomed with an unexpected fist. The unnerving sound of something cracking echoed throughout the room and I was sure I felt blood dripping down from my nose. Weird, normally they’d start shouting before getting psychically aggressive. It took more than a broken nose to get my thoughts off track, which seemed to be fortunate as I avoided the next incoming punch.

As I stepped back slightly, I noticed that my assailant hadn’t come alone. Behind him stood a woman with a frightened look plastered on her face. Judging from her nervous fiddling and stammering without getting a single word out, she must’ve been another victim of Atlas’ mistakes. A third fist swung my way, I dodged again, and he stumbled forward, catching himself seconds before falling face first into the ground.

Can’t say I would’ve have minded using such an unmannered swine as my personal floor mat. To be honest, the least he could have done was state his problem before attempting to beat the living hell out of me. It wouldn’t have been the first time that I got burdened with Atlas’ issues; the man had a terrible habit of screwing up everywhere he went. Hence why he was probably in such a rush earlier.

“I assume Atlas is the source of your aggressive behaviour? In my defence, you can’t blame me for my uncle’s faults, but I can provide a solution to what he has caused.”

This seemed to have caught the woman’s attention. She placed a gentle hand on the man’s arm, which seemed to calm him down a notch. They exchanged glances before the man sighed in frustration, and turned his attention back to me, this time without the murderous aura.

“Atlas has brought destruction upon our family, excuse me for my unmannered outburst young lad, but we are in despair,” he explained. I already expected as much.

I fished for my handkerchief inside my pockets and stuffed it inside my nose, stopping the blood from dripping all over the floor. I ushered them inside and rummaged through the cabinets for unused bottles and ingredients. Said cabinets were absolutely trashed, I could hardly find anything between the mess Atlas had made. Organizing was a word that didn’t exist in his dictionary, along with resolving and bravery, and I had to pay the price for it.

After a few excruciating minutes, I managed to gather all the necessities and dumped them ungracefully on the table in front of the couple, their expressions were golden when they saw the dead insects and spider legs.

“I am assuming madam bought a bottled blessing but instead received a curse,” I got a nod in return.

“To make the proper preparations to re-bottle the nuisance, I will need information on the colour of the liquid and how long you’ve been suffering from the after effects.” I noticed that their facial expressions showed a different emotion than I had expected, the look of concern wasn’t common after I explained that I would be able to rid them of the curse.

“Normally we would refund you for your purchase and add a compensation for the caused mayhem, but I shall use your refund to fix my broken nose,” I put the bloodied handkerchief away and waited for any sort of response. Which seemed to be a difficult task for both.

“She cannot speak,” I stated the obvious after watching the man stumble over his own words, trying to explain their dire situation.

“From what I can tell, the vocal cords have been affected, hence why you cannot speak. If you could show me the amount of days you have not been able to speak, I will be able to help,” she held up four slender fingers, answering my question in a rather adequate manner.

Four days, so the curse hasn’t settled yet. That made the process a lot easier, which was fortunate for the three of us. Settled curses were a huge pain to deal with, a day’s worth of preparations to break a link between victim and curse wasn’t something I was looking forward to. Just thinking of the abstraction process made me shiver.

The chance of spreading the curse by failing the abstraction overshadowed the actual chance of bottling it successfully. Believe me when I say you don’t want to affect twelve unfortunate bystanders in the middle of village without the necessities available at hand.

“You’re incredibly lucky, madam. If you had waited three more days, the curse would’ve settled,” I doubted they would understand what I was talking about, at least I tried to comfort her a little during the preparation. Comforting victims was always such a hassle, but the fact she temporarily lost the ability to talk made it more peaceful.

I started mixing the ingredients together, loving their scrunched-up faces while adding the spider legs, dirt and small unrecognisable amounts of liquids and pulverized herbs. The mixture’s stench was overwhelming. On multiple occasions I had to clean up people’s vomit, which was a lovely task indeed. Neither of them looked sick to their stomach, apart from the usual expressions after seeing the ingredients used.

I held the mixture in front of them, watching as she reached out with shaking hands, accepting the bottle with reluctance. The liquid rippled inside the see-through glass when it was lifted towards her lips, I could barely control my laughter caused by her tremendous nervousness. She took a sip and was shockingly surprised it didn’t taste like a horse’s excretions, although it was common knowledge that potions have nearly no taste at all, no matter the ingredients used. After she finished drinking everything, slowly but surely, a dark thick liquid began trickling down her lips and chin, dripping into the empty bottle. Her expression changed from disgust to concern as she began coughing, sending the black liquid flying all over the table and floor. Great, another cleaning job.

While she coughed her lungs out, I watched the man next to her cautiously. Unexpected punches to the face was an occurrence I’ve gotten used to, however predicting whether they would assault me during the abstraction process, was something I couldn’t predict. His suspicious focused expression on me didn’t help much either.

“This is part of the abstraction, her body is eliminating the curse from its system, the black liquid escaping through her lips is what Atlas gave her. After her system is cleared, her voice will recover in three days, which means no talking and keep her throat hydrated,” My short explanation seemed to have calmed down the man’s suspicions of me as well. I shifted my attention to the filling bottle, unconsciously tapping my fingers impatiently on the wooden table, watching the black droplets dripping down her chin. The abstraction was the easiest and most boring part, even getting severely beat up at the door was more interesting than this; not that I preferred the latter.

An eternity later, the coughing ceased, and it seemed that the body got rid of the unwanted contents. I put the filled bottle in one of the more decently organized cabinets and made subtle gestures that I’d like the unwanted guests to leave.

“I cannot express my gratitude enough, please inform Atlas that he shall face his own consequences next time he shows his ugly mug inside our village, he’s lucky to have you around,” the man spoke as he escorted the woman on their way out.

“My name is Veros Lorcan, and this is my wife Aeris. I apologize for the late introduction. Hopefully, you can forgive our unsolicited entrance and my unmannered behaviour,” Honestly, I hadn’t expected him to apologize at all, but I was too glad they were finally leaving. I led them back to the entrance, opening the door wide open.

“Don’t worry, it’s quite alright. You get used to it eventually when you have angry customers at your door every day of the week.”

Really, I wasn’t even over-exaggerating, Atlas was infamous for the countless mistakes he made.

I shut the door when both of them disappeared from my view, and slammed my forehead against the wooden surface. It would undoubtedly cause a bruise; yet the need to out my frustration was greater than caring about such a minor detail.

I waltzed over to the table, cleaning up the mess I’ve made, only to stumble upon letters I hadn’t noticed before. I didn’t peg Atlas to be an enthusiastic writer, yet there were several written letters with envelopes spread around.

The one on top caught my attention. The ink was still wet, and the letter was surprisingly addressed to my mother. I didn’t know he still kept in touch, after all these years being apart. I wasn’t sure how to feel about this discovery.

_To Elyon Khandar,_

_July 1 st _

_I hope this letter finds you well._

_Despite my best efforts, I have made no progress our father’s experiments whatsoever. Due to our endless traveling, I have yet to obtain the necessary ingredients to complete the task at hand. However, my luck hasn’t ran out entirely._

_I have received word from Niravle’s duke that he decided to purchase my goods. I should expect his advisor to pick up his order when we arrive in Arvias. Though my memory isn’t as great as it used to be, I could swear that his advisor is one of my previous buyers. Veros, if I remember correctly. The man who requested a blessing for his wife, now ain’t that sweet?_

_Now that I think about it, did I give them the blue or pink bottle?_

_Nevertheless! Orion is doing great; he loves it here! We’ve made great progress regarding his alchemic skills, I’m sure he’ll bypass our father’s skills sooner than we might think. He misses you greatly, and wants you to know he loves you and his father._

_Your beloved brother,_

_Atlas_

It was quite unbelievable that Atlas had managed to cause a scene with individuals with a close connection to the royal family, I’m sincerely perplexed by his enormous stupidity. They would’ve had his head the moment they caught sight of him if it weren’t for me saving his ass for the umpteenth time this week.

No wonder he was in such a hurry, he must’ve seen them coming through the window.

Considering the amount of times he had been in this exact predicament, I’m quite surprised he managed to stay alive.

Eventually, I gathered all the paperwork and went back upstairs, I rummaged through the cabinets in search for my personal belongings and shoved them in the nearest bag I could find, along with Atlas’ books and journals.

I grabbed my cloak from the overpriced armchair and put on my tattered boots, reminding me to coerce Atlas into buying me new ones. I flung the bag over my shoulder and made my way back downstairs, looking through the cabinets one last time to make sure I didn’t forget any valuables.

Unconsciously, I braced myself for any unexpected fists swinging my way as soon as I opened the door, fortunately, I was met with just a chilly breeze, much more pleasant than my previous encounter.

Tracking was a skill I taught myself after having discovered Atlas had the habit to disappear after any casualties, fortunately, Atlas always forgot to hide his tracks. After having taken a few steps away from the door, I noticed footprints imprinted in the dirt, unsurprisingly leading towards the Inn. Although I thought that he took the wagon and left for another village, I didn’t expect him to only move two doors away from our residence. It only took me a minute before I stood in front of the Inn’s entrance, as I stepped inside, I expected Atlas sitting at one of the tables, sipping away an ale. Instead, I found both Atlas and Nuvian crouched behind the counter. It was a mental debate whether to drag Atlas outside and hand him over to Veros or hang him myself, that debate was however of short duration.

“Orion, I have made a grave mistake,” Atlas whispered as he grabbed my sleeve and pulled me down to his level with unneeded force. I tugged at my sleeve to free myself and struggled to keep my temper in control. I stood up and stared at the supposed adults hiding like the toddlers they were. Without a second thought, I threw my bag in Atlas’ lap and crossed my arms, waiting for him to figure out the cause of my silence and judgemental look. He carefully opened the bag and a rather nervous laugh escaped his lips, he averted his gaze away from me and subtly moved closer against Nuvian, who he was most definitely going to use as a meat shield.

“Look, my dearest blessing bestowed upon me, you should understand that a man can make mistakes in his life, wouldn’t you agree? Nuvian? Tell him,” he said in a panic, nudging the other, trying to convince him to take his side. Nuvian however, was a smart man and wanted nothing to do with our discussion. He gave Atlas a pat on the shoulder, wished him good luck and scurried off in a hurry, leaving Atlas to his demise.

“You had one job Atlas, give them their desired blessing and be done with it. However, somehow you managed to hand her a speechless curse and dare hide in the Inn?”

Although I hadn’t planned on causing a scene in the Inn, Atlas made it hard for me, considering his unintelligent brain apparently didn’t know how to do anything right.

“Thanks to your screw up, we might have to leave village _again_. Just when we finally got to settle down!”

I expected an honest apology, yet even as I portrayed my anger, all he showed me was an expression void of any spite and regret. One would’ve thought that Atlas would be a capable man and own up to his mistakes in a serious manner, however this was _Atlas_.

The man who couldn’t care less about the consequences of his screwups, or the fact this had to be the fifth village we have to flee from.

“Get your lousy buttocks off the ground and help me pack the wagon,” I sighed, lacking the energy to extend my anger. I watched him get up dramatically slow, acting as if all the bones in his body were broken. With much effort, loud sighing and a few excruciatingly fake groans, Atlas had managed to stand up before me.

So far, he had not uttered a single word to me in his defence, which surprised me quite a bit, considering Atlas would usually stumble over his own words trying to explain that it wasn’t his fault.

“Forgive me, Orion, you know I mean no harm. Mistakes are humane, you cannot set aside this fact. I promise you I shall pay more attention to the next sale, you have my word,” his word would’ve meant more if he had kept his promises in the past.

Yet, unsurprisingly, he repeatedly made the same mistakes during the past four years. Expecting an apology from him was pointless. Atlas wouldn’t swallow his pride to sincerely apologize for his mistakes, I doubted he was even capable of recognizing them.

As infuriating his personality was, it was my duty to keep the imbecile alive and away from the king’s grasp. This whole ordeal would’ve been a lot easier if Atlas had paid attention to the goods he was selling and would face his own problems, not send his nephew to take care of it and catch a few punches in the process.

Which reminded me of my broken nose I had been ignoring for the past minutes. In the heat of the moment, I had forgotten the stinging pain and dried blood on my philtrum and upper lip. After staring judgingly at Atlas for a few more seconds, I turned around and searched for a cloth to wipe the blood from my face.

“Let me help you,” Nuvian said while standing at the top of the staircase. He leaned his crossed arms on the wooden railing while staring at us with a curious expression. Subtlety wasn’t one of Nuvian’s specialties, especially when it came to listening-in on our conversations. It didn’t surprise me in the slightest that the Innkeeper was watching us from the floor above.

“Don’t even think that you’re save from me Nuvian, even after offering your help,” I got a knowing look in return; the man knew he would receive a scolding as well. Although my nose was my priority now. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and watched Nuvian grab one of the stools, pushing Atlas out of his way and putting it in front of me.

“Sit down,” he ordered, and I complied. Nuvian held my face in his hands, studying my nose from uncomfortably close. He tilted my head from side to side and touched the bruised skin once or twice before standing back and reaching for the cloth in my hands, dabbing away the rest of the dried-up blood.

“You know this is going to hurt,” Nuvian said before placing his fingers on both sides of my nose. The stinging pain was bearable for now, but I braced myself for the pain to come as soon as he started pushing lightly against the fractured bone. In one excruciatingly painful movement, he pushed hard from both sides, forcing my nose to straighten slightly. This was nothing new to me, I’ve had Nuvian fix countless of broken bones before, but I would never get used to the pain of popping bones back in place. I watched Atlas scrunch up his face as soon as the pop echoed throughout the Inn, the bastard had no reason for his current expression unless he was in my position. Averting my gaze to Nuvian, it was apparent that he had to repeat his previous deed and cause another second of unfathomable pain. Of course, he did not disappoint my expectations and as soon as my thoughts left my head, he held my nose and pushed.

This time, I found difficulty in not gasping out, as unmanly as it sounded. My silent prayers for the process to be done was heard from above when Nuvian created distance between us and gave my nose one last check.

“All beautiful again,” he winked in my direction and I shoved him away from me, thankful for his help but immensely livid for the fact Atlas had caused this, again. I gave the wall a well-undeserved punch to let off some steam before resting my head on the counter and counted to ten, excruciatingly slow, seconds.

I knew Atlas well enough to know he wanted to talk to me, but he knew better than to disrupt me during the minutes I tried to calm myself down before I’d start painting his face red, purple and blue with my fist. However, before I could finish my count to ten, loud banging was heard from the wooden door. I lifted my head as the door was slammed open, revealing the king’s knights. I grabbed Atlas’ sleeve and pulled him down to a crouching position behind the counter right before they walked in.

“Care for an ale?” Nuvian asked in a calm manner, diverting the knight’s gazes away from the counter. I held my breath and clasped my hand over Atlas’s mouth, knowing he would mutter nonsense in response to the unexpected unwanted visitors.

The smaller of the two held up a scroll and began reading aloud, ignoring Nuvian entirely.

“In accordance with the king, all villagers are required to pass down information about the whereabouts of Atlas and Orion Khandar. Both wanted for misconduct, unlawful trading and usage of magic. A reward shall be bestowed upon those who bring them to the castle to face justice.”

“Unfortunately, respected knights, I have not encountered anyone by the name of Khandar. However, if my ears hear anyone mutter their names, I shall make haste to the castle and let it be known.”

I could only imagine Nuvian’s determined expression, it was his unexpected skill to be able to deceive many with just the looks on his face and his behaviour. The knights muttered something under their breath and I heard the rustling of paper. The sound of heavy footsteps soon after, made my heart skip a beat in fear.

“Their appearances are described in this letter, beware of these rats and their distasteful way of living.”

This time, the sound of footsteps were fading. I held onto Atlas’ sleeve for a little while longer, waiting for Nuvian’s signal.

After the door closed, Nuvian’s face peeked over the counter and motioned for us to come with him quietly with a simple hand gesture. We followed him to the back of the Inn, away from the windows.

“You two are going to be the death of me,” Nuvian muttered while he opened several cabinets and dressers. He rummaged through the dresser and threw different pieces of clothing over his shoulder. 

A pile of socks, undergarments, blouses and trousers and quite the collection of unique hats was created before us. There was enough family to dress up an entire family.

“Change your attire, make yourself unrecognisable so you can safely get out of village.”

Seeing Nuvian so serious was quite surprising to say the least, even though Atlas is twice his age, Nuvian managed to act like an adult. I crouched next to the pile of clothing and managed to fish out some pieces which were to my liking and changed into my new attire. I glanced towards the other’s direction and found Atlas struggling with different pieces of clothing, probably having an inside argument which outfit would suit him better. His vanity was quite the hassle in times like these when our heads were threatened by decapitation.

“As amusing as watching you struggle may be Atlas, it is not the time to act like a princess. Fetch something quickly and gather your belongings, your vanity shall cause your doom one day,” at last, Atlas’ tempo went up a notch. As he undressed, I couldn’t help but give a quick glance at his unclad body. His skin did not contain a single scar as opposed to my own, which was covered in bruises and scars from previous encounters.

It was unfair, the fact that Atlas managed to get out unharmed every time he screwed over another customer. It didn’t take a genius to know I was being used as his meat shield and it made my stomach drop. This wasn’t news to me, but at the current moment with the tension lingering in the air, my emotions took the best of me. I was more affected by this knowledge than I had expected, and it took all my willpower not to cause a scene.

“Opposed to the royal family, the knights are no fools. They will recognize you as soon as they spot you on the road. While you gather your belongings, I shall mark out an alternative route on your map that should ensure your safety,” as Atlas handed him our map, I made my way over to the front of the Inn and took the bags from behind the counter. Atlas was watching my movements from a distance, presumably stiffened from anxiety, thus being completely useless now. Nuvian returned to me and pointed out different spots we had to evade when we made our way out of the village.

It was quite amusing that Nuvian automatically assumed I had to ride the wagon since Atlas would be either too indolent, or unconsciously stray from the assigned path.

“Before you leave, I wish to know whether you’re feeling alright. With your uncle’s mistakes causing dire circumstances, I wouldn’t be surprised you’d feel a bit shaken up,” Nuvian said as he tugged me back by my sleeve the moment I walked over to the wagon.

“I try not to think about the negative aspects of life,” I replied with a soft smile, appreciating his concern for my wellbeing. Nuvian was contemplating his next words carefully, that much was obvious from his expressions.

After a few seconds, he decided to stay quiet and motioned for me to follow him back to Atlas. Who was still admiring the wall without moving an inch.

I waved my hand in front of him to gain his attention. Eventually, after getting no response, I grabbed his sleeve and dragged him out of the Inn through the back door.

Our wagon was conveniently stationed right before our eyes, which made me wonder how many times Atlas had visited Nuvian without my knowledge. After dumping the bags unceremoniously into the wagon, I motioned Atlas to get in and climbed onto the front seat, reaching for the horse’s reigns. The rope that bound the horse to one of the poles that supported the Inn’s construction was loosened, awakening the horse in the process.

“Words cannot describe how thankful we are for your help; may our paths cross again under less menacing circumstances,” I said as I tugged at the horse’s reigns. The horse grunted in disapproval from being disrupted during her beauty sleep.

“Surely you are not expecting me to stay put here,” Nuvian responded with a smirk plastered on his face. His words confused me, but unfortunately, there was no time to discuss whatever he may have meant. One more tug at the reigns informed our horse that she had to accept the fact her slumber would have to be rescheduled for another time.


	2. II

Our journey went smoother than expected, considering the lingering thought of the royal knight hunting us down. The snoring sound from the back of the wagon distracted me from my train of thoughts, surprisingly quite fortunate, taking into consideration that he was usually a gigantic nuisance whenever we travelled.

The wagon wobbled slightly on the bumpy pathways, preventing me from falling asleep at this ungodly hour. It wasn’t until a few feet into the woods that the horse stopped without warning; the cause being a young boy, presumably not older than five, standing in the middle of the road. His clothes were tattered and torn, he was covered in dirt from head to toe and didn’t utter a single word as our eyes met.

“Move aside panhandler, we’re in a rush,” although I asked him in kindly, the brat wouldn’t move an inch, which was quite the inconvenience. Before I could threaten the boy in earnest, I heard suspicious rusting from the bushes surrounding the wagon. I Immediately moved away from the horse’s reigns and crawled into the back of the wagon, nearly stumbling over Atlas’ unresponsive resting body.

I nudged him in his ribs, hard enough to wake him from his slumber, and rushed over to the disorganised cabinets, looking for any weapons to fend off the expected assailants. Atlas sat up immediately, quite shocked to say the least.

“Hand me your dagger, Atlas,” I ordered him while rummaging through the cabinets, not being able to find anything useful. The rustling behind me had to be Atlas fishing in his bags for his dagger, and it seemed I was right when he handed me two hand carved knives.

“What’s happening?” I didn’t spare him a vocal response, I merely nodded in his direction before climbing out of the back of the wagon and walked over to the young boy, who was still planted firmly in front of the horse. I grabbed the front of his shirt, slightly lifting him from the ground, causing him to stand quite uncomfortably on his toes.

The boy did not flinch or show any sign of fear when I held the sharpened blade closely to his throat. My actions, however, did not faze him in the slightest, it was quite the opposite; he gave me a childlike grin.

“Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear, we simply cannot afford losing any time with dealing with unnecessary obstacles such as yourself. Tell your hiding comrades they shall have to settle with another victim,” I loosened my grip on his shirt, enough for him to be able to stand on his feet again. The reaction I received in return wasn’t what I had expected; he simply held up his hand. As if on cue, two men immediately came charging at me from both sides.

Although the number of assailants was less than I had anticipated, I found difficulty in dodging both simultaneously. The man on my left was at least twice my size, which was quite noticeable when he started his assault, the force behind every punch thrown in my direction was a world apart from mine. I took a quick look at his appearance and found that his entire face was covered in bruises and scars, making quite a repugnant sight. His clothes were worse off than the child standing before me, making me wonder how much his attire had to suffer throughout the years. The man on the right wore neat garbs compared to the others; an unrecognisable family crest was embroidered on his sleeve; gold lines were sewn into his dressing shirt and only few patches of dirt decorated his entire outfit. One would easily confuse him for nobility if it weren’t for the fact he travelled alongside these two rapscallions.

The larger man swung his fist at me once again, the inaccuracy of his attempted strikes showed his inexperience with hand-to-hand combat; which was quite fortunate in my current predicament.

A quick glance to my right warned me of the dagger comfortably nestled within the other man’s grasp, which was swung directly towards my chest. I managed to step backwards, out of his range, causing the dagger to barely touch the front of my blouse, much to my relief. I took this opportunity to move away, gaining more distance from the brute, the stoic juvenile and the scrawny butcher who was slashing away through thin air.

They closed in on me yet again, however I had quite an advantage this time; the ability to move around in a less restricting area than before. Sir scrawny swung his dagger again, more aggressively, giving me the impression that frustration was clouding his way of thinking clearly. He swung the blade carelessly, no tactics whatsoever, making his attacks quite easy to manoeuvre. However, while I dodged the predictable stabs, it was too late for me to notice the brute bash into my side, causing me to lose my footing and nearly collide with the ground.

I cried out in surprise when, instead of greeting the dirt with my face, sir scrawny managed to injure my face. It was the consequence of not paying attention to my other assailant. Blood trickled down my face and as if on instinct, I covered the open wound with the palm of my hand, regretting my actions instantly. I ignored the stinging pain when both men didn’t spare me a second to catch my breath. I barely dodged in time, the sharp edges of the dagger glided over the surface of my chin, this time causing a smaller cut than the previous one.

“Orion?” You’ve got to be kidding me.

Atlas’ ability to call out for me at the most inconvenient times impressed me once again. The scrawny butcher finally stopped his movements and shoved his dagger into the tyrant’s hands, instantly rushing over to the back of the wagon. I wanted to follow suit, but the brute had a fierce grip on my shoulder and wasn’t planning on letting me follow his comrade. A struggle against his grip caused him to kick me straight in the stomach, causing me to double over in pain.

“Atlas?” the stranger asked in confusion.

“Elías?” Atlas replied equally confused.

“Fancy meeting you here old friend, you have no idea how much I missed you,” their conversation was remarkably odd considering our current predicament. After I recovered from the pain, I crouched down and reached for one of the knives in my belt, instantly piercing the dagger straight through his knee cavity.

He fell over and cried out in pain, I watched him scream before he desperately reached for the dagger nestled inside his body. I took this opportunity and ran over to the wagon, hearing small footsteps in the brute’s direction; unmistakably the young boy rushing to help him. I made my way over to Atlas, nearly expecting to find him with a dagger nestled in his guts but hoping for a better outcome. My judgement was undoubtedly imperfect when I saw the scene unfolded before me.

Yes, Atlas didn’t have blood splattered on his body, but Atlas’ own dagger resting neatly against his throat unsettled me quite a bit. I felt my heart caught in my throat and spared a quick glance towards the shining blade pressed against Atlas’ skin, forming a small cut and causing droplets of blood to flow out.

“You’re in quite the luck that you’re wanted criminals by the king’s command,” Elías, formerly known as Sir scrawny, said. His nasty expressions made me awfully sick to my stomach. The dagger stopped digging into Atlas momentarily, instead, it was pointed at his back.

“I’m sad to inform you I will have to escort you to the king,” he said while forcing Atlas back into the wagon, shortly after I felt the sharpness of an unknown item poking into my own back as well. It didn’t take a genius to realize that the previously wounded man was back on his feet.

I glanced behind me and met eyes with my previous attacker, watching him as he shifted all his weight onto his healthy leg, standing rather uncomfortably behind me. He gave me a forceful push and I stumbled forward, trying to regain my footing. However, a strong grip around my arm stopped my movements altogether, preventing me to fall face first into the ground as well.

“You will behave, won’t you?”

It wasn’t a question, it was an order with an underlying threat, which didn’t faze me in the slightest. I spit in front of his feet, unsurprisingly triggering his anger quite a bit.

Unashamedly, I felt pride in making him loose control of his emotions this easily. The slap against my already injured cheek however made me wonder if my disrespect was worth it.

It seemed like Elías was done with my behaviour when he forced me into the back of the wagon more forceful than necessary. Both of my knives were taken away from me before he followed suit with a promise of a deathly punishment may we go against his orders. Right now, the king wasn’t even my greatest concern. Rather the fact that no matter how much I had fought in my life, I simply wouldn’t be able to fend off two guys with one of them twice my size. I watched Elías get settled next to our makeshift beds, toying with the dagger in his hand while he watched us sit down as well.

The wagon’s movements startled me as the other two started to get comfortable behind the horse’s reigns, I was simply too focused on the current threat in front of me. Perhaps the idea of the king decapitating Atlas nagged at the back of my head as well, more than I would ever admit to him. The horse neighed from the sudden movement behind her, getting uneasy as expected.

Daisy wasn’t a fan of strangers and neither were we. I glanced behind me and watched the brute tug at the reigns a few times before getting more aggressive, practically forcing the horse to step forward. She was stubborn, however. It was quite laughable that they tried to boss the sassy horse around. In the end, the wagon moved forward, presumably by the forceful tugging and the undeniable pain it caused.

“Enlighten me on why the king wishes to decapitate you, I am quite interested to hear how you have caused trouble yet again,” Elías said, making the uncomfortable atmosphere worse than it already was. Atlas stared at him for a solid minute without answering, he had quite the questionable expression on his face, even for me.

The thought of him thinking his answers through was unimaginable, but judging by the way Atlas kept his cool, this situation must have been equally important to him as well. The way they communicated with each other left a sour taste in my mouth, something felt quite off. Atlas’ silence and Elías’ unnerving smirk raised too many questions in my thoughts and frustrated me to no end.

I couldn’t help but recall hearing Elías call Atlas his old friend as well, perhaps Atlas hasn’t told me everything about his past; not that I expected him to. It was no surprise that he had never told me about his earlier years, or his relationship with my parents and deceased grandfather.

He’s always been this annoying mysterious idiot that would always speak before thinking; so why was I so uneasy with the fact that for once, in a threatening predicament nonetheless, I was frustrated that I didn’t know what was going on?

“You don’t have to tell me, the king will when we hand you over. I was only trying to lighten up the mood, no need to be such a spoilsport, Atlas. Where has the innocent joker from back then gone off to?” I heard Atlas gritting his teeth next to me, balling up his fists and showing anger for the first time in years.

Whoever this man was, he was getting on Atlas’ nerves and I wondered what would happen if he took it too far.

“I bet he ran off along with his pride.”

“At least I have a little pride left, unlike the filthy swine you have become, Elías. No wonder the royal family cast you aside the second you became an adolescent.”

This conversation seemed to have reached the point of no turning back when both men swung their fists at one another, nearly hitting each other before the wagon stopped abruptly, causing both men to fall face first into the wood. I dragged Atlas back to my side by his sleeve, whispering to shut his mouth before getting in between them, seconds before Elías recovered from his position. The moment he got up, his attention focused on the two in front of the wagon. Their faces were shadowed by their cloak, two weapons rested in both their hands and another wave of uneasiness hit me. Two attempted robberies in a row at this nightly hour seemed too absurd to be true, but when more figures appeared and slowly surrounded the wagon, the truth hit me harder than expected.

They stepped closer to the wagon, each of them holding an intimidatingly large weapon, and I didn’t dare avert my gaze from the new threat surrounding us. From the corner of my eye, I saw Elías panic and rush over to both me and Atlas. Before I could react, he pushed us aside and made his way over to the kid and brute in front, leaving us to fend for ourselves in the back. Atlas tugged at my sleeve, forcing my attention back on him and he silently pointed to the wagon opening, revealing that two of the cloaked men now stood less than a foot away from us.

The figure on the left climbed in, grabbing my leg with a tight grip and dragged me harshly over the wood, forcing me closer and closer to them, leaving me with no choice but fight back as much as I could. I started kicking towards his face, but my movements were panicked and inaccurately placed, missing his face multiple times in a row. Atlas instantly reached for my sleeve again and tried to pull me back with all his might, but the other figure got in and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and nearly slammed him down on the wood, causing him to gasp loudly. I tried to focus my attention on loosening the grip on my ankle, impossible as it may seem, I wasn’t about to give up my chance of freedom that was presented to me on a silver platter. I looked around me, trying to focus on Atlas’ mess surrounding me and looked for any objects I could find that may help me fend off this fiend. I grabbed the nearest book and sat up immediately, smashing the front cover in the man’s face, causing him to let go of my leg and groan out in pain, stumbling backwards a bit.

As he tried to regain his footing and get over the pain of Atlas’ insanely thick, useless book, I made a charge towards the weapon he was holding and claimed it as my own in a matter of seconds. I averted my focus back on Atlas and was quite unnerved to find him fully in the grasp of the other man, a sharp axe threateningly close to his throat, repeating our earlier situation.

At this point labelling our current predicament as unfortunate would be an underestimation; we were simply cursed to be screwed until the end of our lives. At least, that’s what it most definitely felt like. Although Atlas was in danger for the umpteenth time, he looked rather calm when we met eyes, causing my confusion to become even worse. Yet again I was met with trouble that required me to watch all my movements in order not to accidentally cause Atlas’ death. Simply terrific if I may say so.

“It’s alright,” Atlas spoke up. I stared at him with a mix of frustration and confusion, displayed on my face for all to see. None of the events that has happened had made any sense to me, and with Atlas telling me it was alright, I just wanted to get back to the Inn and pretend that it was indeed alright. Pretending that Atlas wasn’t standing there with another weapon against his throat, and my mind not being a chaotic, distressed mess. I just wanted to eat my mother’s porridge and not be in constant fear of decapitation.

My previous attacker made his way back over to me, forcing my attention back on him and keeping his hand on the weapon I was holding, not making any suspicious movements. He got closer to my ear and whispered something. It was soft, familiar and I finally understood Atlas’ words. Funny how two simple words changed my entire mood instantly.

He took the weapon out of my hand and bend my arm backwards, against my back. He held me tightly against his chest, trapping my arm between both of us simultaneously. It didn’t matter when it slightly hurt, or when both me and Atlas were led to the others in front of the wagon. The words kept echoing throughout my head, even when we were faced with Elías who was behind the horse’s reigns. I noticed that our horse was calm, she hadn’t struggled against the reigns once, she was doing the exact opposite and tried to get closer to the figure in front of her.

“Never have I seen maggots stealing a wagon before,” a voice spoke up, causing their fellow companions to follow up on their statement.

“It’s just a couple of maggots? How unfortunate. Smashing mere insects isn’t as amusing,” another said, sounding quite displeased.

“Perhaps dismembering them could bring you amusement?” a third voice said, malice laced their suggestion. The crowd started taunting Elías while stepping closer with each sentence spoken.

The look on Elías’ face was engraved into my memory for years to come; truly magnificent to say the least. He was horrified, shivering in his seat while scrambling towards the muscular simpleton next to him; even the younger boy looked calmer than him.

At some point I feared that he might wet himself, but luck was on my side when one of the men grabbed for his leg and pulled him towards the ground in one sweep. His face greeted the gravel with much force, enough to knock the breath out of him. A boot on his back forcefully held him in place against the dirt the moment he tried to get up, and the message was received clearly this time; he didn’t try again.

The two still sitting behind the reigns watched as Elías was kissing the ground unintentionally and neither dared to move an inch, afraid that the same fate might be bestowed upon them. Ironically, the brute who was so sure to smash my face into a bloody pulp was now shivering like a puppy in his seat, watching his master helplessly flail around on the ground.

The kid stood up from his seat and balled his fists angrily, assuming a fighting stance and glared at the people surrounding him. He had guts, but no intelligence if he truly believed he could fend off a group including an estimated amount of twelve armed men. His posture caused few to chuckle, and some even cheered for him jokingly. They were taunting him in a similar way as they had done with Elías, but the kid’s stoic face remained, and his focus did not waver.

“I shall not let you take Varus,” he threatened, surprising most of the men surrounding them. They didn’t expect the child to make a sound at all. We could conclude from his little outburst that the massive bundle of muscles had a name, and the child seemed to be quite attached to him.

“Do as you wish with Elías but leave Varus unscathed.”

“Shut your trap, V,” the brute, or now known as Varus, said. He grabbed the boy’s arm and pulled him back down forcefully. The kid was unknowingly provoking the unpredictable crowd, however, that seemed to be quite an understatement when I noticed the glares firmly planted on the figures’ faces. The admiration for Solas’ courage did not excuse his blatant disrespect for their current predicament. A hand full of men charged towards the wagon without any warning, frightening the horse which caused her to rear in fear. The wagon trembled slightly with her sudden movements, but it didn’t stop them from raising their weapons and reaching for the unwanted passengers within.

They nearly caught Solas’ sleeve before Varus swung his dagger towards their hands, drawing a thin line of blood but not dealing nearly enough damage to fend off the intruding hands reaching for the boy. From my point of view, it wasn’t as amusing to watch as I had thought it would be. The child was trying his best to stay out of reach, which was practically impossible as they were cornered with little promise of escape.

When he finally became too tired to keep up the struggle, they managed to grab him by the back of his shirt and pulled him out of the wagon instantly. He was nearly given the same treatment as Elías, but they decided against it.

They watched Varus’ next movements as both his comrades were forced to surrender, he gritted his teeth and focused his attention on the closest man next to him before swinging his fists without a second thought; seemingly only having violence in his head.

The first few hits were accurately planted in the middle of the man’s face, causing an excruciatingly painful crunching sound. The injured man was pulled back before a new punch could be delivered, the attempted swing hit another man’s shoulder instead and he stumbled backwards.

“Release them!” he screamed in rage, moving towards the edges of the wagon and aiming another fist at whoever he might come across in less than a foot radius. His rage blinded his focus as he punched into the air multiple times, not noticing the men getting into the wagon behind him.

They inched closer until their weapons were firmly held against his back. His wild trashing continued for a few more seconds until one of the spears tore through his shoulder, finally silencing him. He gasped, immediately reaching for his injured shoulder and watched the blood flow over his fingers.

They took this opportunity to drag him out of the wagon, clearly ignoring his injury and painful gasps as his shoulder brushed against the wood on multiple occasions. They threw him next to Elías, who turned his head away when his eyes saw the blood covering his comrade. I wasn’t sure whether he simply couldn’t handle the sight of blood, or the fact that Varus was injured to the point he couldn’t defend himself any longer.

I had no time pondering about it when a shout was heard from my right; Solas was struggling against the men holding him, trying to move over to the brute on the ground. I hadn’t even paid any attention to the younger boy struggling the moment the spear pierced through Varus, the act itself had me silenced instantly. A hand on my shoulder caused me to avert my attention towards the source, which was the all too familiar cloaked man from before.

He held a finger against his lips, motioning me to stay quiet while both me and Atlas were led towards the wagon. We stepped into the back, two of the men following us inside and settling down on the ground, finally getting rid of their cloaks and dumping their weapons unceremoniously onto the wood.

“How am I not surprised that you of all people managed to save us from decapitation, yet again?” I asked, trying not to show my relief so obviously, but failing considerably so.

“You two are quite notorious for getting into trouble. One of my regulars at the Inn overheard Elías and his bunch of rookie thieves talk about raiding by-passers on this particular road minutes after you left village.”

That made quite some sense, especially with their perfectly timed arrival.

“Pray tell, why was Elías holding you hostage in your own wagon?” This was question I couldn’t answer, instead, I glanced over at Atlas who sat silently next to me. It took him a second to realize that the question was redirected towards him; perhaps the situation would be clearer to me after his explanation as well. He scratched the back of his head nervously, avoiding our gaze and started fiddling his thumbs, giving me the impression that, somehow, he was responsible for our mess yet again.

“Well, Nuvian,” he muttered eventually, gaining our interest even more. We waited impatiently for him to finally speak up, surely it wasn’t so bad that he didn’t dare speak a word about it?

“In my youthful years, we were quite acquainted with the Verdehile family. I became friends with their youngest son, Elías. It was a friendship that would last a lifetime if it weren’t for the fact I made a mistake when I accidentally gave him a bottle from my father’s curse cabinet instead of the one with the blessings. It caused quite a scene when their youngest son couldn’t stop lying, no matter what circumstance he was in. It was my fault when I gave him a curse for his birthday instead of the blessing I promised him. His family put up with his lies until he turned eighteen and rejected the marriage proposal from another wealthy family, unwillingly.

He had told them the girl wasn’t to his tastes; too unattractive and with a nasty personality to match; however, those weren’t his true feelings. Elías missed his chance to marry the woman of his dreams and became an outcast and eventually left his family. I’m guessing he met those two outside during his later years. I couldn’t live with the guilt, knowing I had caused this, so when my father moved to a different village, I gladly went with him.”

Somehow, I was quite surprised that Atlas finally took the blame upon himself. Something he hadn’t done in the years we’ve spent together. I did wonder however why he never came back to set things straight. He did gain the knowledge on how to reverse the curse; even though this one would take hours, so why hadn’t he?

“Now that we know why Elías was all too keen on handing us over to the king, perhaps you’re willing to tell us about the gentlemen standing outside the wagon? I appreciate the fact you saved us, but I’m quite curious,” I said, breaking the awkward silence. All eyes were directed at Nuvian this time, it took him a second to realize that.

“The bunch of suspicious looking guys who just saved your arses are Atilla’s companions. They’re regulars at my father’s inn. They’re a bit _different_ , but overall good people.”

Despite his words, there seemed something off about them. Perhaps it was the fact they were all clothed in cloaks, or wore a strange triangular emblem. The three dots in the middle resembled tiny skulls, though they were too small to be confirm my suspicions.

“Let me introduce you to Atilla Lancaster, a family friend.”

The taller man of the bunch showed his face; it was a middle-aged man. He had stern brown eyes, brown hair pulled into a bun and a matching, clean shaven beard to match the look.

For a traveller, he looked rather well-kept.

“I wish we could’ve met during better circumstances. Nuvian told me about your predicament, and I believe I can help.”

This caught my attention more than it should have. Why would a stranger extend a helping hand?

Unless there was a catch, I didn’t buy his act of kindness.

“What’s your motive?” I blurted out. Normally, you wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but with the king on our heels, we couldn’t be too careful.

“You’re Nuvian’s friends, it’s the least I can do. I can escort you to where you’re headed, and I can finally spread my wings a bit.”

“Orion, don’t be so sceptical. The man just saved our arses, we would’ve been dead meat if it weren’t for him and his buds.”

One had to be sceptical when decapitation was lurking around the corner in _every_ village and village. Perhaps I had to supress my stubbornness and just accept the man’s offer.

“I’ll come with,” Nuvian shrugged.

Either he sensed my unwillingness, or my glare directed at Atilla had become too apparent.

“That settles it,” Atlas shouted enthusiastically, leaving no room for argument. He swung an arm around both Nuvian and Atilla.

“They’re coming with us!


End file.
